My initial reaction to this deal is that it is terrible value for a guy that has been widely seen as a top 25 prospect in baseball. With unimpressive numbers repeating in AAA Las Vegas, Wallace was looking more and more like an average player at 1B (like a Lyle Overbay without the defense), but I can't see that as justification for doing this.

When they traded for Wallace in December, Anthopoulos talked about Wallace being "the guy" at 1B going forward. He went on and on about his bat in justification of the Taylor deal (a deal that I didn't particularly like at the time and still don't). While Wallace has performed below expectations in AAA, for Anthopoulos to go back on those words so soon is very surprising. Really, all of that praise for Wallace is one of the reasons that Jays fans are in such disbelief.

Unless the Jays originally wanted Gose back then from the Phillies and got Taylor as consolation (hard to believe, but maybe it's true?), their view on Wallace changed significantly over the last 6 months. It's not the first time that Wallace has been quickly moved by a team after he was acquired (the A's). The fact that he's now moving to his 4th team in 2 years is very telling.

Basically, this seemingly indecisive move doesn't leave me that confident in this team's management and scouting department. For them to change their mind so quickly on a guy (or come to a sudden realization on closer inspection) who was supposed to be an important piece for them doesn't bode that well for future moves involving major prospects. But maybe I'm wrong and they see something in Gose that everybody else doesn't.

IMO, Wallace is only going to be an average 1B (much like Overbay), but that's still worth quite a bit more than a high ceiling risk in Anthony Gose.

silverZ wrote:Ok this makes no sense to me unless they plan on moving Lind/Snider into the 1B/DH spots in the near future...even then why trade a proven MiLB bat who is almost MLB ready for a 19 year old speedster with strikeout problems and a low stealing %. What am I missing here?

I don't have an explanation. I wish I did. Wallace seemed like he was going to be a pretty good player to slot in there and replace Overbay, but the Jays cooled on him. Maybe that's Lind's future.

KCollins1304 wrote:So the BJ's essentially traded Michael Taylor for a player similar to him that is 2 or 3 years further behind him in development?

Gose's main value is that he's apparently a defensive whiz in CF. Taylor's defense as a corner OF as been called average at best.

But still, your point carries some validity. It's a weird move.

See, the problem with scouting defensive players is that you never know what scouts are looking at. Remember what kind of players win Gold Gloves every year. People call Torii Hunter a defensive whiz but UZR and TZ say they're just average.

Rocinante2: you knowRocinante2: its easy to dismiss the orioles as a bad teamofanrex: go onRocinante2: i'm doneRocinante2: lmao

Are people willing to admit yet that Brett Wallace has been overrated? Most of his value is based on the idea coming out of college that he'd be an on base machine. Over 800 PA in AAA (almost half while playing in an extreme hitters park), he's sitting on a 6.5% BB rate and a .350 OBP. He probably still makes my top 100, but not by much.

mblax10 wrote:Are people willing to admit yet that Brett Wallace has been overrated? Most of his value is based on the idea coming out of college that he'd be an on base machine. Over 800 PA in AAA (almost half while playing in an extreme hitters park), he's sitting on a 6.5% BB rate and a .350 OBP. He probably still makes my top 100, but not by much.

I see more and more people saying he is overrated, and I'm starting to believe them.

It's weird that AA went from Taylor to Wallace to Gose. I'm fine with the Wallace-Gose swap. If they want to bet on tools rather than having a safe-bet, unimpressive 1B, that's fine. But why not go after Gose in the first place? Or better yet, get more in return for Taylor and get more in return for Wallace? Given that the perceived value of Taylor was higher than Wallace's at the time of the trade and that Wallace's value is probably higher than Gose right now, you could get an extra prospect in there. Fantasy Baseball 101.

I'm sure the Jays were not impressed with what Wallace produced in Las Vegas this year and maybe they were hesitant to bring him up with fear of hurting his trade value after he didn't live up to expectations at the Major League level. Gose is a gamble and the Jays will need to gamble a few times in order to compete in the AL East.